The Cardinals built a commanding lead early and held on through a frantic finish, defeating the Pirates 11-7 at PNC Park. St. Louis scored six unanswered runs through five innings before Pittsburgh mounted a desperate rally that ultimately fell short.
Ryan O'Hearn led Pittsburgh's comeback effort with a two-run homer and an RBI single, finishing 2-for-4 with three RBIs. The first baseman is batting .323 with five home runs and 20 RBIs this season. Jordan Walker paced St. Louis with two hits and three RBIs, including a sacrifice fly and two RBI singles.
The Cardinals seized control early as Nolan Gorman homered to right in the second inning, followed by Victor Scott's solo shot in the third. Walker singled home another run in the third before St. Louis exploded for three more in the fifth. Alec Burleson's ground rule double scored one, then Walker and Gorman added sacrifice flies to make it 6-0.
Kyle Leahy earned the victory for St. Louis, allowing three runs over 5.1 innings with seven strikeouts and carrying a 5.52 ERA. Braxton Ashcraft took the loss for Pittsburgh, surrendering six runs in 4.1 innings with his ERA at 3.71.
The Cardinals improved to 15-13 and snapped a losing streak. Pittsburgh fell to 16-13 with their second straight loss. Bryan Reynolds, who scored twice for the Pirates, sits nine hits away from 1,000 career hits.